Preston returns
by samantha2012
Summary: Preston returns to Seattle Grace after 4 years. He still loves Cristina and hopes to get her back. He discovers a lot has changed in the 4 years he has been gone. Please read and review: thanks.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Grey's Anatomy or the characters.

Preston started breathing heavily. He hadn't been back to Seattle Grace in four years. He almost dreaded going back. He knew she would probably be there. He wasn't going back for her. Well he kind of was, but at the same time he was going there because the hospital was really popular and they needed a new cardio surgeon. He was taking over head of cardio, since there last head of cardio resigned. Teddy Altman was good from what he heard. But no one was better then the Preston Burke. Richard informed him that things had changed at Seattle Grace; he would just have to see for himself. Preston hoped that he and Cristina could move forward with their lives. He truly missed her and regretted leaving.

Cristina was back. Her honeymoon in Hawaii with Owen was just blissful. She was happy for once in her life. Meredith was probably dying for details, and Cristina was dying to give her details. But today was an important day. Chief Webber had finally found a new head of cardio. He was going to introduce him today, and Cristina was assigned to his services all week. Nothing could ruin her day. She was happy, Owen was happy, and that is all that mattered to her. "How did your honeymoon go, Cristina?" Meredith asked urgently. Cristina smiled. "It was alright, it was beautiful and fun. But today is a bigger day. The Chief is announcing a new head of Cardio and I am on his services all week. I can't wait to find out who it is. I got some ass-kissing to do, and Owen knows it." Cristina said. Meredith laughed. She was glad her friend was back.

Everybody was gathering in the hall. Teddy Altman had resigned, and the Chief had finally found a replacement. It was the moment of truth. Richard knew that Cristina would probably be upset at first, but he knew she loved cardio. He didn't tell Burke that Cristina was married; he preferred to stay out of his residents and attendings love lives. Everyone was talking and anxious to hear the news. The Chief cleared his throat and walked out into the room. It was time.

"Anyone hear who the new head of cardio is?" asked Izzie as she walked up to join her husband, Alex, and her friends. "No idea,". George put in. Meredith and Cristina shook their head at her. "No freaking idea. I wish Webber would just come on out and tell us already. It is not like it affects me or Iz any. We have already chosen our specialties. Yang is the only one of us interested in cardio." Alex piped in. "Well I am the only one hardcore enough to be in Cardio. Besides George of course, he did save that guy in the elevator. But George, is like Owen, and is better in a fast pace environment." Cristina said. George looked at Cristina, she didn't give compliments much, but he was sure she was complimenting him. He smiled at her and she nodded back at him. "Shh, the Chief is finally coming in." Cristina urged.

The Chief cleared his throat. The room grew silent and was awaiting his morning speech. He was nervous and excited at the same time. "I know everyone is wondering who I found to be our new head of Cardio. Some of you will be happy with my decision, some of you will not be. I am doing what is best for this hospital. We have got the top neurosurgeon, the top plastic surgeon, the top trauma surgeon, so I have brought in the top cardio surgeon. He was here once before, but left due to some personal issues. I want you all join with me in welcoming back Preston Burke." Chief Webber stated.

Silence spread through the room as Preston walked into the crowd. His eyes met Cristina's. His heart started racing. He immediately regretted leaving the woman he loved. He watched her turn and walk away, as Meredith and the rest of her friends followed her. She wasn't too happy, he guessed. But he didn't blame her. He left her at the altar. But he was determined to make it up to her; she was on his service all week. He was determined to make her a brilliant cardio surgeon, and he was determined to get her back. He didn't know how but he would try like hell to get the woman he loved back.

Cristina couldn't believe what she was hearing. Preston Burke was back. She was angry. How could the Chief do this to her? Yes, Preston was the best, but still. He was her ex fiancé, who left her at the aisle. She would be definitely speaking to the chief about this. She saw Owen's face when the Chief announced Preston was back. He knew of Cristina and Preston's love life, and she could tell he wasn't happy with it. The thought of Preston back made Cristina feel very nauseated. Meredith put her arm around Cristina. She knew better then to say anything. Just being close to Meredith, made Cristina feel better.

Owen was pissed at the Chief for letting Burke come back. Yes, he was good, Owen heard all about him. But he was afraid; Burke would be trying to get Cristina back. He would not let that happen. They were newly weds, and he wasn't going to let Burke ruin their happiness. He had to speak to the Chief immediately and set him straight. That was what he was going to do. Owen noticed Derek and Mark heading over there to speak to him. Well, he wasn't going to be rude and not speak to him. But he had a lot of trauma cases coming in, so he would have to welcome him later.

"Welcome back Preston. " Derek Shepherd, the neuro surgeon said. Preston smiled. "It is good to be back, a lot has changed around here." Preston noticed. "Yes it has, like you wouldn't believe. Meredith and I got married last year." Derek stated. "Oh did you? It was about time!" Preston said. Derek nodded. "Cristina got married too." Preston looked at him in shock. "Really now? Preston asked. Derek nodded at him again. "You see that red headed guy over there. Well his name is Owen Hunt. He is the head surgeon for trauma now. They've been dating over two years now, and they just got married six weeks ago." Preston couldn't help but feel angry. Cristina just wasn't the type to settle down, she wasn't like that. That was the main reason he returned to Seattle Grace, was because he was hoping to get back together with her. He should be the gentleman like he was raised. But he was going to fight like hell to get her back.


	2. Chapter 2

*I do not own Grey's Anatomy or their characters*

"Well I did not expect to that to happen. But I am personally glad to have Burke back." George said to his friends over lunch. Cristina glared at him, making George backtrack in his thoughts. "Cristina, you married Owen. Surely Burke knows that by now, and if he doesn't he will soon enough. You love Cardio and you loved studying under Burke. You could learn a lot more under him like you did before. "George continued. Cristina stopped glaring at him. "True, it's not like he came back to Seattle Grace to get me back or anything. Even though, I would totally understand if he did. I am really hot." Cristina said. Meredith laughed at her. "You are really lucky, Cristina. You get Burke all week, and I am with Shepherd all week on Neuro, and George and Alex gets my clinic this week. "Izzie said sadly. "You will live." Alex said as he kissed her cheek. "Just remember the exciting things that will be happening for us this week." Alex reminded her. Izzie smiled. "What's happening this week?" Meredith inquired. Izzie smiled again. "Well my PET scans came back clean, so I've been cancer free for about a year now. Alex and I are going to see a fertility specialist. We are going to start trying for a baby. We are more than ready." Izzie said ecstatically. Alex grinned. "It's no big deal though, it's whatever." Alex said. Izzie rolled her eyes at him. "Congrats, Izzie and Alex. I know you will be great parents." Meredith said happily. Cristina managed a smile at them. But she was nervous about having to work with Burke for the next week. She didn't know why she was so nervous.

"Tyler, you know how to work the administration assignments don't you?" Preston asked cordially. Tyler nodded at him. "Well make sure, only Cristina Yang gets assigned to my services for a while. If you can do that for me, I will make sure to assign you into some of my important surgeries. I have a transplant coming up soon if you would like in on that." Preston continued. Tyler smiled at him and nodded. He knew it was wrong, but he would do anything to get see some cool surgeries. Preston smiled. He knew this wouldn't be easy for Cristina. But he needed to know if she still felt the same way about him. He needed to confuse her feelings that she had for Owen. If he had a chance to win Cristina back, he would do whatever he had to do. It was time to have a talk with Cristina, so he had Tyler page her to his office.

"Cristina, did you have any idea that Burke was coming back?" Owen asked angrily. Cristina looked at him and shook her head. "No, I had no idea. But I am getting paged to his office right now, so I have to go see what he wants." Cristina rushed off. Owen was feeling very uneasy about this. He knew Cristina loved him, but he didn't trust Burke's intentions. He just had to do something. He had to get Cristina off Burke's services, but she loved Cardio. Maybe he was just paranoid, he would wait until Burke slipped up, then he would decide to make his move. He wasn't going to lose Cristina and that was for sure. His pager went off. An incoming trauma, just what he needed for a stressful day. He hurried off to the ER to wait for the trauma.

Cristina walked with her head down. She didn't know why Burke paged her. She probably shouldn't have gone, but she wanted to know why he had come back. She was curious. She was determined not to let Preston take advantage of her again. She loved Owen, she loved Preston but that was along time ago. She loved cardio, and would love to study under Dr. Burke, but only if he realized they were just working together and nothing else. She refused to work with him, if he didn't realize that she was with Owen, and nothing was going to change that. Cristina looked up and saw Burke waiting for outside his office. He smiled at her gently. "What are you doing here, Burke?" Cristina demanded to know. He just smiled at her again. "Richard offered me a job back here at Seattle Grace, and I took it of course. Cristina you know you need a teacher, and I am the best there is. I know I left you four years ago and I made a mistake. I did come back here to make amends with you, but I see you're married. But I love you and always will love you and you marrying Owen won't change that." Burke said as he leaned down and kissed her.

Butterflies flew through Cristina's stomach. She didn't know why she felt this way. But she felt alive again. She broke off his kiss. "Preston, you left me. I am married to Owen, and I love him. He is my life." Cristina said. She was unsure of the last part. She loved Owen of course, but was he her life? She aborted his child without a second thought. With Burke, she considered having his child. She even paused to think about it. That took a lot, to make Cristina stop and pause about things. "I am glad you are back. But for my surgical benefit only. I loved you once, Burke. But quit making things so complicated. I will see you on your service tomorrow, I am going home." Cristina told him as she walked off. Burke smiled. He had confused her, he knew she wanted him as well, but Owen complicated things. He wasn't going to give up just because she insisted he do so.

"Well Dr. Stevens and Dr. Karev, everything looks good. You have been cancer free for a year now. I think it is time to try for a baby. "Dr. Angela Whitman, the fertility specialist said. Izzie smiled at Alex. " I am not saying this is going to be easy, but your uterus looks good, and you know the cancer treatment didn't destroy all your eggs. So you could still get pregnant naturally, but I will recommend invitro with your fertilized eggs." She stated. Izzie nodded at her. It was a long road, but one they were willing to take. Izzie wanted a baby more than anything. She cut down on her surgeries, and she worked about 50 hours a week in her free clinic. So she could do this parenting thing. She was going to rock it.

"Chief Webber, I would like a word with you." Owen called out to him. "Make it fast, Hunt, I've got a few patients to check on as soon as I can." Richard said. "Sir, I respect you and all. But I must ask if you find someone else Burke can go. Cristina and he had a relationship years ago, but I am not comfortable with him here." Owen stated. Richard rolled his eyes at him. "Look, Hunt. I respect that you're uncomfortable with him being here. But Yang married you and not him. He is the best cardio surgeon the US, has ever seen in a while. We are lucky we got him back. It will be the best thing for Yang as well, she wants to be a brilliant cardio surgeon, well let her. Preston can teach her a lot of things." Richard stated as he walked away. Owen knew it was a long shot, but he would be damned if he let Preston steal her away from him.


	3. Chapter 3

It was a new day and Cristina was already stressed. She felt guilty about kissing Burke, but she felt butterflies too. She was very confused about her feelings. She had to get it together though. She was scrubbing in on Burke's surgery this morning and she could not screw it up. She was a shoe in for chief resident and Burke was going to help her get in. Jackson already told the chief he didn't want it so he was out. April was a whiny little brown noser, she probably wouldn't get it. Lexie had too much personal crap going on in her life, with the whole Jackson and Mark thing. Really the only resident Cristina had to worry about was her best friend, Meredith. Meredith was almost as good as Cristina, but not as quite. Meredith just had more compassion, and that's why people liked her better. Well, Cristina was determined to kick-ass today in the OR with Burke. She wasn't going to let that kiss they shared throw her off her game.

Lexie was worried. She was in love with Jackson and Mark, and couldn't pick between them. She was never going to be chief resident, because she couldn't get it together. She was a great doctor, but she would never be a good chief resident and she knew it. Lexie was jealous of Callie, she had the family she wanted, but mostly she had all Mark's attention with the new baby. But in about eight more months, Lexie would be expanding her family, it was Jackson's baby no doubt but she still loved Mark. She didn't know how to tell Jackson she was pregnant. She didn't know how he would feel. Mark would be mad, because she told him she didn't want a family right now. Getting pregnant was not intentional though, they drank a lot of scotch one night, and forgot to use protection. It was not the end of the world though. She did want a family, and it was a lot sooner then expected. But if Meredith could do it so could she. Meredith had an eighteen month old adopted daughter named Zola, and was sixteen weeks pregnant with their second daughter, who was going to be named Stella Cristina Shepherd. She was nervous about telling Jackson, but she was going to do it tonight at Joe's.

Burke was nervous. Not about the surgery he was about to perform, but about being with Cristina in an OR again. She was a great student; she would make a great cardio thoracic surgeon one day. She was following in his foot steps and he was proud. Of course, she was no longer his. She was married to Owen Hunt. But when he kissed her last night, she kissed him back. She didn't show any signs of resisting. She still cared for Burke, and he knew that. Maybe Cristina getting married to Hunt was a mistake. Maybe she did love him, but not enough. They had only been married six weeks and they were already having trouble with their marriage, from what he heard. He was not going to give up on Cristina Yang ever again. He was determined to get her back. It was time for the surgery, he needed to scrub in. Cristina had already prepped the patient and was already down in the OR waiting on him. He smiled, as he walked down to join Cristina in the OR.

Cristina watched as Dr. Burke scrubbed in. She felt butterflies as he walked into the room. She was nervous about being near him again. But he was the best cardio surgeon there is, so she was determined to learn as much as she could, because he might leave again, and the thought of that also made Cristina nervous. She couldn't imagine him leaving again. "Hello, Dr. Yang. How is our patient doing?" Burke asked. She looked at him and said. "He is fine, and currently under asleep, and he is ready to be operated on." She answered directly. He nodded at her. "Open him, up for me would you?" Burked asked her. Cristina grinned and nodded. "Scalpel" She demanded the nurse. The nurse handed Cristina the scalpel. Cristina felt alive again as she cut into the patient's chest. He needed some new valves to help keep his heart going. His old valves were very damaged and ready to expire at anytime. She scooted over, so Dr. Burke could take over. He shook his head at her. "I want you to take the valves out for me, and replace them with the new valves for me, can you do that?" Burke asked gently. Cristina looked up at him and nodded again, and dug in the patient's chest.

Owen couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe Burke was being irresponsible and letting Cristina do the surgery. Yes, Cristina was good. But she was way too confident in herself, and she was just a fifth year resident. She was good, and Owen believed in her, but he didn't think she should be doing this. If something went wrong, that would be Cristina's medical license, and her career. Surgery mean't the world to her. He wasn't going to let Burke ruin that for her. She had aborted his child, so the least she could do was keep her career going. He was going to have a little chat with Burke after the surgery. He was beyond pissed. He stormed out of the gallery.

"Can you believe Burke is letting Cristina do his valve replacement surgery? I mean Cristina is good, but she shouldn't even be doing these surgeries yet." Izzie stated to her friends. Meredith shook her said. "Cristina has done a lot more complex surgeries, so this valve repair is relatively easy to her." said Meredith. As soon as she said that, the patient started coding, just as Cristina was finishing her last stitches on the valves. Burke stepped in with the crash cart. The heart started to beat again after a minute, but the surgery was a success. Meredith smiled, even though Cristina scared her for a minute. Cristina was going to be an excellent cardio surgeon, and everyone knew that. But know one knew that more than Meredith. Meredith looked down at Cristina, the patient was already gone to the recovery room, and everyone else had left the room. Burke leaned down and kissed Cristina on the mouth. Meredith was shocked, and hurried out of the room before they noticed her.

Cristina was nervous, her patient was coding and she did the surgery perfectly. "Get me the crash cart." Preston demanded. Cristina moved aside so Preston could shock his heart. His blood pressure kept dropping. She silently hoped that she didn't kill this patient. She didn't want Burke to get in trouble. After what seemed like a long two minutes, his heart started beating again. She breathed a sign of relief. Burke looked at her and smiled. "These things happen sometimes. He is okay. You did a perfect procedure, and I couldn't have done better." Burke said cheerfully. Cristina smiled at him. The nurses rolled the patient out of the OR. "I miss you Cristina, I made an awful mistake when I left you. I let my interfering mother persuade me not to marry you. I am awfully sorry. I love you Cristina Yang. Most of my reasons for coming back to Seattle Grace were for you. I know you're married to Hunt, but I love you and want you. Please leave him." Preston begged her. Cristina was shocked; she didn't know what to say. "Please think about it." He said as he leaned down and kissed her.

Lexie was so emotional. She had seen Mark talking to another woman. She couldn't stop crying. She didn't know why it bothered her so much, she was with Jackson now. Mark needed to move on. He needed to find someone better than her. She wasn't no good for him. But she still missed him. She was in love with him, but she was having Jackson's baby. She didn't know what to do. She would stay with Jackson out of obligation to their baby. Or maybe Jackson would dump her when she told him she was pregnant. They had been dating for a year now, and she was happy with him. But whenever she saw Mark even talking to another woman, the ugly green monster came out of hiding. She knew Mark still cared about her, but she knew he was possibly moving on. Abortion crossed her mind at first when the test turned positive. But she couldn't kill her baby simply because it was an unplanned. She wasn't like Cristina. She knew she could be a good mother and was going to be. Jackson was in surgery and would be getting off in an hour. They planned to meet at Joe's at 6:00 pm. Lexie was already of the clock. She had time to spare. Her stomach growled, so she hurried off to the cafeteria to get a snack. Being pregnant, made her eat a lot more than usual.

Cristina had to get away from Burke and Owen. Things were just so confusing right now. Owen had paged her and she dreaded it. She had to tell him about the kiss or kisses she should say. She walked into his office and saw Owen at his desk with his face in his hands. "What's wrong, Owen?" Cristina asked nervously. He looked up at her. "There is something I need to talk to you about Cristina." Owen said. She nodded at him to continue. "I am uncomfortable working with your ex, so I am going to have the chief transfer the both of us to a different hospital far away. He promised he wouldn't tell Burke where we go. I am sorry if this upsets you but its for the best." Cristina's stomach dropped she didn't know what to say.


	4. Chapter 4

Cristina couldn't believe what she was hearing. She couldn't leave Seattle Grace. She had a life here. She had friends, and she had a family. She couldn't leave Meredith, or Burke for that matter. She finally had to admit to herself, she was still in love with Burke. She still loved Owen but couldn't imagine being away from Burke. "No, I cannot leave Seattle Grace. You can go, but I am going to stay here." Cristina said firmly. Owen got angry. "You still have feelings for him don't you"? Owen demanded. Cristina looked at him. "I don't know how I feel. It is like the situation you put me through with Teddy. I just need time to think." Cristina said. "We are married Cristina, you just can't walk out. You should have thought about this before we got married. I am leaving whether you come or not, well that is up to you." Owen said as he walked out of the room, slamming the door. Cristina broke down in tears. She was so confused and didn't know what to do. She needed Meredith right now, so she paged her 911.

Izzie was nervous. It has been a few days she had the potential baby implanted in her. She wanted a baby so bad with Alex, and he wanted it to. She hoped the cancer didn't ruin this for them. The two week wait was going to be hard for her. Alex leaned in and kissed her. "Everything is going to be fine, Izzie. If we can't conceive our own biological child, we will adopt." Alex assured her. They were in the process of adopting anyway; they had already spoken to a social worker. There was the little premature girl abandoned at the hospital. Her mother abandoned her at the hospital, which was perfectly legal, but also very sad. The mother of the baby was white, but the baby itself was half Asian. She was beautiful, and Izzie fell in love with her immediately and Alex did too. The social worker, since the mother abandoned her, they should be able to go home with them as soon as she was better. They got temporary custody of her Alex and Izzie had a room ready for her when she got to come home. Ring ring ring. Izzie's phone went off; it was Karen, the social worker. "Just got the word from the doctor, she can go home today. Can you and Alex come by? Since ya'll are seeking custody, yall need to have a name picked out when you get here." Karen said. Izzie smiled. "Yes, of course, we can come. We are on our way." Izzie said. "Alex, they said our little girl can get ready to come home. Well she is technically not ours yet, but soon hopefully. We get to name her and everything, lets go get here." Izzie said.

Tears rolled down Owen's face. His marriage was over and he was angry. Cristina had chosen Burke over him. She didn't say it, but he just knew by her staying here, that she had made her choice. He looked up from the floor and saw Preston. Anger filled Owen as he charged Preston and took him to the ground. He started punching Preston and couldn't stop, until he was dragged off him. Shepherd and Sloan drug him off Burke. Burke was laying on the ground bleeding. He got some satisfaction from that. He turned around and saw Cristina. She wasn't happy, she was torn between them. She had to make a choice though and soon.

Meredith's pager went off. It was Cristina, and it was a 911 page. It must've been pretty important. She knew Cristina needed her now. So she headed toward the Denny Dequette Memorial Clinic. She was close to there. She saw Cristina walk out of the bathroom; tears were rolling down her face. "What's wrong Cristina?" Meredith demanded. Cristina looked at her and just started bawling. "Burke is back, and my marriage is falling. I love Owen and I love Preston, I can't pick between them. What should I do, Mere? Before you tell me to pick my marriage, Owen wants us to switch hospitals. He wants us to leave Seattle Grace because of Burke." Cristina said. Meredith looked at her.  
"Cristina, I love you. You are my best friend. But you married Owen. You made vows and you made a commitment. You need to pick your husband. I know you don't want to leave Seattle Grace, or me, but I would leave for Derek. He's my husband, and Owen is yours. Fight for your marriage. I believe that you can love two people, but Preston left you at the alter, and I remember how down you were. Do you really want to risk that again if you leave Owen?" Meredith asked. Cristina nodded and walked away.

Owen was gulping down some vodka at Joe's Bar. He could not believe that his marriage was over. He hated Preston for coming back to Seattle Grace and stealing his wife away within a week. He had down half a bottle of vodka. Joe took his keys away, but little did he know that he had another set in his pocket. He needed to get away from the bar, and go to his hotel. He had left the hospital early to pack his things and get in his hotel. He snuck out of the bar, while Joe was serving other customers. He got into his car, and took another swig of vodka. He pulled out of the parking lot just as a huge diesel truck ran a red light and hit Owen's mini van.

Meredith was right. She had to make her marriage work. She wasn't a quitter. She would talk to the chief and get her ready to transfer to a different hospital. She had called Owen three different times and he didn't answer. She understood why he was mad; she was hoping she could apologize. She shouldn't have even considered getting back with Burke. "Cristina, wait." Preston called out to her. "What do you want Preston? I am trying to contact my husband, so please leave me alone." Cristina said harshly. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about, there has been an accident." Burke said.


End file.
